Media Analysis of FoxNews.com

FoxNews.com is a media organization that has a largely conservative demographic of both males and females. Like the Fox News channel, the web site seems to be focused on the late twenties/ early thirties through senior citizen demographic. This is evident in particularly their coverage of entertainment stories.

Stories focused on the memorial of journalist Peter Jennings, Yogi Berra’s settlement in his lawsuit against USA’s Sex in the City ad campaign, and the fact that Beverly Hills 90210 stars are staring in Domino, a film about a late model Domino Harvey. These entertainment stories are geared more toward the ‘twenty something’ generation.

Of course there was the normal coverage of what who wore at the Emmy’s but it was not as heavy as other outlets would make it. As for a geographical location, I think that this organization does not focus on or appeal to a particular area, other than the U.S.

The site has a little of everything. It’s mostly national news, with a little bit of editorials, entertainment and health tossed into the mix. I think that it could use a wider range of stories, but perhaps it is that their site relies on the ‘search engine’ portion a little too much. The site also incorporates video clips which is a plus.

As for a political bias I found nothing really to report. I think that the stories were all well researched and well reported, living up their claims to be “fair and balanced”. Most of the stories did not attempt to persuade the reader toward any politically or religiously motivated views. The stories that I read were thoughtfully written and factual.

One such example of this is Jennifer Warner’s article, Teen Sex and Drug Use Raises Depression Risk which reports very factually on the link between substance abuse, sexual activity and teenage depression. At no point does Warner attempt to include any opinion about the very controversial topic of teenage sex and drug abuse. She simply explains the findings of a

The only bias I was able to find was in the previously mentioned article about Domino. I found it interesting that the author Roger Friedman made the claim that director Tony Scott is “… not a great director. He’s responsible for some of the worst movies ever made… ” He goes on to back up his claim by giving examples of Scott’s work such as The Fan, The Last Boy Scout, and Revenge.

While none of them are Citizen Kane it is purely opinion that both Scott’s not a good director and that these three films given as an example are bad films. They may not have been Hollywood hits, however he does not make the claim that they were unsuccessful, but rather that they are just bad movies. This clearly shows his bias against these films and this director.

Many of the stories that I read are very well thought out, factual and objective. I was captivated by Jennifer Warner’s article, Teen Sex and Drug Use Raises Depression Risk which reports very factually on the link between substance abuse, sexual activity and teenage depression.

At no point does Warner attempt to include any opinion about the very controversial topic of teenage sex and drug abuse. What adds objectivity and truth to her story is the fact that it was reviewed by Dr. Michael Smith who is also a senior editor for WebMD.com, one of the most respected online medical sites in the world.

I think that the site, all though a bit light, lives up to the standards of being objective and fact based in news reporting. Their media righter full fill the purpose of their jobs, to report the news in a factual and unbiased way while keeping the reader interested and making you think. All the stories I examined, with the exception of the Domino story gave enough information, in the right way, for a reader to come to their own conclusions.